Not Jax news but anyone who's driven I-4 lately knows what a daily cluster this stretch is....
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cities/Jacksonville/Transportation/I-4-Expansion/i-L8QrLzP/0/HVDMQ4SR9bP2q9jPdtvpF9K5JjgcwmFjBW5TwbNw/L/Screenshot_20240306_111955_Chrome-L.jpg)
https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2024/03/06/florida-dot-designates-i-4-widening-in-east-polk-as-high-priority/72840703007/
Good lord, imagine Florida drivers & tourists trying to cross five lanes at once.
Funny that $2.4 billion of federal money was a boondoggle for 70 miles of high speed rail a decade ago, but it's just fine and dandy for $2.5b of almost entirely state money to widen just 15 miles of I-4. At which point thousands of stick frame houses will be built in the woods that require people to drive and the highway will fill up all over again. But no, Orlando isn't allowed to mandate density over sprawl, the state has to preempt that.
Just ridiculous. Building worse Houston and for what?
The Moving Florida Forward (MFF) initiative was estimated to cost $7 Billion last year, and the Legislature provided $4 Billion. The remaining $3 Billion was carved out of already funded projects throughout the state - including in the Jacksonville area. With inflation that $7 Billion program may now cost $ 8 Billion. From what I have heard, the Legislature has not created new money to fill that $3 Billion (now $4 Billion) shortfall - it is still coming from other projects around the state. As inflation continues to push costs higher, we can probably expect more Interstate (and other) projects to be pushed farther into the future (another MFF - Moving Farther into the Future).